From this hall four side doors opened, apparently communicating with different chambers, three of which were cautiously tried by Reeks, but they proved to be fastened. The fourth, however, yielded to his touch, and admitted them to a chamber, which seemed to have been recently occupied, for a lamp was burning within it. The walls were panelled with dusky oak, and hung at the lower end with tapestry, representing the Assyrian monarch Ninus, and his captive Zoroaster, King of the Bactrians. The chief furniture consisted of three large high-backed and grotesquely-carved arm-chairs, near one of which stood a powerful electrical machine. Squares and circles were traced upon the floor, and here and there were scattered cups and balls, and other matters apparently belonging to a conjuring apparatus. The room might be the retreat of a man of science, or it might be the repository of a juggler. But whoever its occupant was, and whatsoever his pursuits, the good things of the world were not altogether neglected by him, as was proved by a table spread with viands, and furnished with glasses, together with a couple of taper-necked bottles. While glancing upwards, Mr. Thorneycroft remarked that just above each chair the ceiling was pierced with a round hole, the meaning of which he could not at the time comprehend, though after circumstances sufficiently explained it to him. "A singular room," he observed to Reeks, on concluding his survey. "Did you expect to find any one here?" "I hardly know," replied the other. "That bell may have given the alarm. But I will soon ascertain the point. Remain here till I return." "You are not going to leave us?" rejoined Mr. Thorneycroft uneasily. "Only for a moment," said Reeks. "Keep quiet, and no harm will befall you. Whatever you may hear without, do not stir." "What are we likely to hear?" asked Thorneycroft with increasing trepidation. "That's impossible to say," answered Reeks; "but I warn you not to cry out unnecessarily, as such an imprudence would endanger our safety." "You are quite sure you don't mean to abandon us?" persisted Thorneycroft. "Make yourself easy; I have no such intention," rejoined Reeks sternly. "Oh! ve'll take care on you, don't be afeerd, old gent," said Ginger. "Yes, ve'll take care on you," added the Tinker and the Sandman. "You may depend upon them as upon me, sir," said Reeks. "Before we explore the subterranean apartments, I wish to see whether any one is up-stairs." "Wot's that you say about subterranean apartments, Mr. Reeks?" interposed Ginger. "Ve ain't a-goin' below, eh?" But without paying any attention to the inquiry, Reeks quitted the room, and closed the door carefully after him. He next crossed the hall, and cautiously ascending a staircase at the farther end of it, reached the landing-place. Beyond it was a gallery, from which several chambers opened.